The Strangest Ghoul
by RaphaelplusMikey
Summary: Kord sort-of-on-purpose sort-of-on-accident picks up a new slug after a mission. Oddly enough, the little guy hates slug tubes, gets along great with Doc and Burpy, loves when his slug buddies group hug, and almost always refuses to let Kord fire him. At first no one trusts the little guy... Who knew Ghouls could be so shy?
1. Chapter 1

**The Unknown Ghoul**

**Chapter One**

**The Ghoul name of Whopper belongs to Master-Of-Dreams on DeviantArt. Otherwise, I own the idea for this story. ^^ I sadly, do NOT own Slugterra. :(**

"Normal Speech"

_"Slug Speech"_

_/Thoughts, slug or otherwise/_

* * *

No One's P.o.V.

He didn't have a name.

Of course, most wild slugs didn't have names. At least, not exactly. But the slug equivalent of 'Hey you!' or 'Dude!' probably didn't count now did it?

Either way, he was a normal wild slug before. Not a fancy or rare slug, just a nice and safe Flopper. He really liked being a Flopper too, it was amazing the amount of fun a slug could have if they're pretty much indestructible.

Floppers are always thought to be lazy, but they really aren't. They're the biggest adrenaline junkies in all of Slugterra, even more than normal slugs. If other beings could understand slugs they'd know such a thing as a known fact.

Now, most slugs could understand Slugterran, but there were a few that didn't bother to learn. Most Floppers didn't. Why go through the trouble? Slingers pretty much _never_ chose Floppers for anything.

He was one of the few Floppers that knew it. This put him rather high above his brethren's level in most slug's point of view. He was happy to accept this. Coupled with his overall friendliness and higher than average thirst for adventure (even for a Flopper) he had a ton of friends scattered all over Slugterra. He visited them as often as he could, using the strangest back streets and craziest shortcuts to get places as fast as he could manage.

So it wasn't as much of a surprise as it could have been when a crying teenager and an inconveniently placed cliff side was his downfall.

Cliffs, were not his worst enemy. Every Flopper had rolled down worse, it was practically a rite of passage among them. In this particular case it was a small path on a cliff side, plenty of room for a slug.

Crying teenager on her Mecca beast? Not good. He wasn't scared per'se of slingers, but there'd been some disturbing rumors going around and he did have _some_ sense of self-preservation. The main issue here was: small path + Mecca + slug = not compatible.

The girl was bawling so hard (over what he had no clue) that she didn't even realize that there was a slug on the path too. He intended to grab her Mecca's leg and catch a free ride, but that plan fell apart when the Mecca stumbled from a piece of the cliff breaking off underneath one of its feet.

"Huh?" The girl sniffed and lifted her red eyes when she thought she heard a small squeaking noise from her Mecca's stumble. She stopped it and looked around. When did she get here?! She should _really_ stop riding when distracted... At least this time she didn't fall off anything...

The poor Flopper squealed in joy as he flew through the air. Oh I'm sorry, did I say poor? I meant lucky. This was WAY better than hitching a ride on a Mecca in his opinion!

He continued to fall, ricochet, and bounce off of random objects as he followed gravity. It was extremely fun, but just as he started wondering how he'd get back up he hit something _metal_ instead of earth.

_*clang!*_

_"Yowch,"_ He grumbled, standing up and leaning against the pipe. _"Wonder where this leads to?"_ He thought out loud.

There was an ominous rumble, causing him to look up and start trembling. Without a doubt he hopped down the tube to escape the miniature avalanche he'd inadvertently started.

And then he fell.

...and fell...

...and fell some more...

The pipe went straight down, with no turns or bends. He wasn't sure how long he fell, all he knew was that it was _boring!_ What was the point of falling if you couldn't fall into things and hit stuff?!

...okay, he could admit that most Floppers could be seen as masochistic...

_Finally_ there was a slight bend in the pipe. He had just enough time to realize that there was an opening before he was launched out of it. Being thrown wasn't the issue, it was how the exact moment he came out he faceplanted hard into the edge of a thick container.

He wasn't sure what happened after that, only that he'd been completely disoriented from the blow. He remembered slipping down the side of the container, and then the sensation of falling again...

And then a splash.

* * *

Blakk was not stupid.

When he began Ghouling slugs he made sure to take at least one example of every slug species he could get his hands on. Once he Ghouled them, his scientists tested and experimented on them.

Thus he knew the abilities of every Ghoul slug and where to best deploy them. He had, of course, had a Flopper tested on in the early stages of the project.

He'd been fairly excited. Floppers were so useless, surely their Ghoul counterparts were the opposite? That was after all the primary effect of Ghouling: a slug's biggest traits were reversed.

The testing was comprised of scientists examining the Ghoul and performing experiments on it, as well as the Ghoul being fired on a sitting target to document its transformation capabilities.

The Flopper Ghoul, named a Whopper, was in general the most unGhoul-like Ghoul any of them had ever seen. Violent? The thing had tried to cuddle with the scientists for crying out loud! Mindless? It was obvious even to Blakk that the Whopper was easily self-aware and intelligent. The only way it showed its Ghouled state was its changed appearance and that it acted strangely every once in a while.

Blakk was willing to overlook its oddities, if only the Whopper showed promise in the slinging field. He was sorely disappointed.

The Whopper never transformed, just like in its natural state. The only thing that happened was that it flashed a bright light when it should have transformed. Firing it seemed to actually exhaust it, causing it to be even more useless after only a few shots.

Blakk had ordered the Ghoul to be disposed of and the experiment a failure. Floppers were officially completely useless to him, and none of his workers were allowed to use them - Ghouled or otherwise. It was simply a waste.

His mistake was not testing it in an real battle.

* * *

The Flopper woke up to extreme pain.

Every fiber of his body burned like acid. He took a small breath and went into a coughing fit as what felt like water got into his lungs.

He lifted his head slightly, antennae waving around sporadically in his disorientation. He was laying in a puddle on concrete floors, large crates and containers around him filled with...

He gasped, choking again. What _were_ they?

Definitely not slugs, or at least not anymore. _"Hey, where are we?"_ He called out weakly to them. He jerked back in surprise when instead of an answer several of them hissed and snarled at him.

_/So whatever did that to them must have taken away their minds too.../_ He thought. He groaned as he head pounded. Why was he hurting so much and what in the _world_ was making the water _stink_ like that?! He brought a pointed hand up to his the spikes on his head in an effort to alleviate-

...hold it.

Back up there.

Pointed?! _Spikes?!_

He gulped and slowly looked down to his hand. While slugs didn't have fingers in their protoforms their hands and arms were easily flexible to make up for it. But slug's (and especially _Flopper's_) hand were NOT SHARP.

His hand was... exactly that. _Pointed_, almost like a giant claw. What truly worried him was the color. No longer was it a lightly colored green, it was a sickening toxic sludge that had a faint glow to it.

He gaped at it before hauling himself up. He tripped and stumbled over to a spot where the foul-smelling water was deeper. He stared in horror at his reflection, at the terrible changes done to him.

His head angled downwards at a dull point, four long spikes extending down his spine. Where there were previously small dots there were now four thick spikes above his eyes. A pair of dangerous fangs stuck out from his mouth where numerous smaller fangs peeked out from behind his lips. His antennae weren't curved and limp, flopping in random directions. They stood stiffly at a sharp angle and bent further back at the halfway pint to run parallel to the ground. The splashes of color around his eyes and covering his stomach were pointed instead of curved and were a deep and poisonous purple.

His eyes... they were what threw him off completely.

Gone were his wide pupils and light green colors. A pair of fierce black slits stared at him from pools of disgusting brown, strange stripes of black crossing the brown.

_"What is this stuff?"_ He whimpered in horror. It was easy to tell that the creepy water was the cause of it, seeing as once he got a closer look he could see the water swirling with a strange dark light.

"Hey! Look, one got out!" He jerked as a voice sounded above him. He had just enough time to look up before a slug tube was slammed over him.

His first reaction was mental, his subconscious squeed in excitement that _he,_ a _Flopper_, was in a slug tube! Almost like he was on a slinger's team!

His second reaction was fear, because he did _not_ want to be anywhere near the people who'd made the disgusting water.

His third reaction... wasn't entirely his. It felt like a whole new being inside of him, it snarled and bared his fangs viciously. He shook his head, feeling the presence settle reluctantly into the back of his mind.

"Well, i''s a nasty un a'ight." Another voice was heard. A small board was pushed under the slug tube, forcing him to jump up and become trapped. The presence stirred at his ensuing panic before he forced it back down again.

It seemed to be some sort of _living_ instinct, reacting in response to his emotions. Which was really not good because he was trying very hard to calm down before he had a panic attack.

* * *

Ghoul's P.o.V.

"What kind is it?" The human holding my slug tube looked at me curiously through the red glass.

"No clue," Another face joined his.

_"Back off!"_ I huddled into the opposite side of the tube, shaking.

"Nah, Ah take it back. This un ain't mean. Look like ya caught a wimp!" The second face cackled.

"I didn't! I bet this one's stronger than any of yours!" The man boasted.

"Yew don' e'en know what it is!" The second man sneered.

"Well then why don't we learn? I can beat you while I'm at it!" I gulped as I was suddenly loaded into a blaster. What was going on?! This human wasn't _serious_ was he?!

"Ha! Ah'd like ta seeya try!" I whimpered at the sound of another blaster powering up and saw the other man through the tip of the blaster I was in.

"Duel!" Both called out at the same time.

I felt a slight warmth from beneath me and then I was blasted out the nozzle. Time seemed to slow.

I could literally feel my speed increasing bit by bit. Time was pretty much slowed down for me. It was how slugs could pull off their tricks and maneuver so well when fired. Our brains sped up when going at high speeds, making time seem to go slower.

I didn't have much of a choice in what was going on, I _was_ already in the air, so I decided to try and enjoy it. There _was_ a chance...

70...

Everything about me had changed, after all...

80...

Maybe this would too!

90...

Now I was _really_ eager!

95...

Just a little..!

100!

...

_"Dangit!"_ Disappointment filled me when I didn't transform.

But then I hit the other slug.

It was changed too, and had a scary looking set of wings on its arms. I was pretty sure it used to be a Tormato. It snarled at me from midair and the instinct inside me bristled.

When we collided I felt a painful pull. There was a bright flash of light and I only just realized that it was coming from _me_ when pain exploded throughout my body.

* * *

**Please read and Review to let me know what you guys think of the story so far! ^^**


	2. Chapter 2

**The Strangest Ghoul**

**Chapter Two**

**Alright then, next chapter here we go! ^^**

**Thank you PLAINAWESOME for reviewing last chapter.**

**[insert random and hilarious Disclaimer]**

* * *

No One's P.o.V.

Several hours later Blakk looked through a cage at a strange Ghoul slug. The Ghoul in question was inspecting its new pair of fully developed wings.

There was no way of telling what kind of slug it had been before being Ghouled, as once hitting the other Ghoul its entire DNA sequence had altered.

And Blakk was _furious._

If he knew what kind it was he would be able duplicate it! There was no _end_ to the possibilities of having Ghouls that inherited the traits of the slugs it battled!

He'd already '_fired' _the lackeys stupid enough to mess up its DNA.

"Doctor Blakk," A scientist cautiously walked up to him.

"Yes?" He replied calmly as possible.

"We've gathered some data on the Ghoul, including the results of tests." The scientist relaxed at his calm(ish) tone.

"Proceed."

"As you know, the Ghoul's natural DNA is long gone," The scientist tensed up again at Blakk's dangerous expression.

"Tell me something I _don't_ already know!" He snarled.

"Y-yes, sir..." The scientist cleared his throat nervously. "We tested to see how the process worked. There was the same light as in the report and the Ghoul still absorbed the DNA from the other Ghoul, but..."

"But _what_."

"Uh, think of the Ghoul as a whiteboard... When it was first Ghouled half of the board was filled with its Ghouled DNA. When it first absorbed other DNA, it absorbed enough to fill in the other half and the two types of DNA mixed. This is why it retained some of the physical properties from the other Ghoul, the fact that a Tempesto has wings, and how the wings were changed to what you see now. Afterwards the whiteboard was full, when it absorbs DNA now it will only absorb the most prominent DNA sequence. Of course, the most definitive feature of any slug or Ghoul is the sequence which contains their velocimorph abilities..."

"The Ghoul simply absorbs the ability of the slug or Ghoul, not any of its physical properties." Blakk finished.

"Exactly, Doctor." The scientist nodded. As Blakk began to question him on any other properties neither noticed the Ghoul watching them with an interested and slightly fearful expression.

* * *

Ghoul's P.o.V.

Years...

That's what I was sure of. Years since I was 'Ghouled' as I'd learned it was called.

Sometimes I felt like it was longer. Sometimes I wished that it felt like less time.

Sometimes I wished I could forget.

It made sense, to experiment on a creature you knew nothing about. It made sense...

But that made it no less painful.

Experiments, tests, all sorts of tortures. Many were done in an attempt to discover what my original species was.

I hope they never learn.

People tend to talk, especially when they don't realize that the Ghoul in the nearby cage is perfectly capable of understanding them. I knew what Blakk used Ghouls for, I knew what he intended to cause. The destruction of Slugterra. That was what would happen if his plan came to fruition.

Fruition, listen to me! I was around scientists too much.

I was slightly worried...

Lately they'd been firing me at different types of Ghouls, making me absorb their abilities. I felt slightly sad for them, it completely exhausted me but nearly killed the one whose DNA I took.

I sincerely hoped I never had to take a real slug's DNA. Of course, that's all it was. A hope.

I did learn some things over the years... mainly about my instinct.

When Ghouled, along with the different appearance and opposite ability a slug develops a powerful instinct. It is incredibly violent and slugs are always pushed to the backs of their own minds as the instinct takes over. At least, I hope that's what happens. Considering that a famous Boon Doc had been unGhouling some Ghouls lately I'm pretty sure that was the case.

Somehow I could control my instinct, and I got the feeling that it wasn't as mindless as normal instincts too. I could rely on it to help save my life, especially when Blakk's idiots went too far and I had to either go wild or get killed.

I'd recently begun to reason with it. It did seem to be capable of actual thought, though it couldn't stop being stubborn and vicious. I just had to show him that it was MY body and that _I_ was in charge. I kept referring to it as a him every once in a while, though considering it definitely wasn't part of me I was fairly certain he was his own being.

It also helped me by serving as a sort of sixth sense, picking up on things I wouldn't otherwise notice. He was even starting to grow on me, though only barely and I still detested its raw violence.

But... back to my original point.

They were preparing me for something, I knew to had to do with slinging. How did I know?

They would fire me, usually at more of Blakk's men. If I didn't return to them as fast as possible I was punished. A metal contraption had been molded into my chest long ago, its harsh prongs digging into my flesh to keep it in place and make it more effective. When they wished to punish me they pressed a button somewhere and I was electrocuted. Not a small little shock either, but enough voltage that I was left writhing in pain on the ground.

They were _training_ me, thinking I was simply another dumb Ghoul. Sadly... it was working.

I was broken. I knew it. I had realized it the first time I flapped my wings at full speed, eager to get back to my current slinger so I didn't get punished. I'd _realized_ it then.

I'd _accepted_ it by the time I was back in my cage, eating my ration of food that was slightly larger than normal as a reward.

I had accepted it. I didn't like it, but I was just _tired_.

Tired of hurting. Tired of trying to be defiant. Tired of pushing my stupid instinct back, the stubborn annoyance he was.

If given the chance to escape, I wasn't sure what I would do.

Would I risk the punishment? Would I risk the pain in order to be free?

I didn't know.

But I was afraid of the answer either way.

* * *

I was right.

They finally took me and shoved me into a standard sized slug tube with no regard to my wings. A short while later I was fired at some random person who'd foolishly gotten into a battle with Blakk's men.

I could do dozens of different types of Ghoul attacks, but my strongest was my Tempesto attack because it was the first one I'd absorbed. They couldn't exactly tell me what attack to use, that would mean they knew I understood them. So I used my Tempesto attack most of the time, doing some fast (or not so fast from my perspective) thinking and using other types depending on my situation.

It kind of made me sick, the cold indifference I felt when I carefully planned the best way to beat my target I was fired on no matter who they were or what the consequences. I truly was beaten...

For a while I was lucky and didn't get fired directly at any slugs. My luck eventually ran out.

He was a simple Hop Rock, nothing unordinary. I was slightly curious in a morbid sense in what the difference between a slug and Ghoul's abilities were. I contemplated what they might be with a dull look as I reached ability speed. I still didn't have a velocimorph, I only gained velocimorph _abilities_. I knew that I'd never absorbed a Hop Rock's DNA before so I didn't bother activating any ability.

There was a familiar pulling sensation, the familiar light, and then the familiar crippling pain. But I heard something upon contact that I'd never heard from Ghouls.

I heard the panicked screams of pain.

_"Oh God it hurts make it st-AAAAGH!"_ The Hop Rock's scream rose and cut off as we both fell to the ground.

I was used to it all, and weakly pulled myself up to return to my current slinger. I accidentally looked at the Hop Rock.

Pain. I saw it and recognized it. Tiredness. Something I could relate to. But the raw _fear_ of _me_ I saw in his eyes stopped me. The Hop Rock stared at me in horror, struggling to even move its arms to get away.

_"I..."_ I shook. This was far different from absorbing Ghouls, I'd known it would be. But I didn't know it would be _this_. _"I'm_ sorry_,"_ I croaked harshly to him, voice not used to speaking.

The Hop Rock stared, baffled, as I wearily raised my aching wings and gave them a harsh flap to lift off.

_/I'm so, so sorry.../_ I thought dully as I slowly flew to my current slinger, letting the wind dry the single tear that managed to work its way down my cheek. The only reason I wasn't punished for being slower than usual was because I was always slower after absorbing DNA and he'd been told that.

I was shoved back into a slug tube and I hardly flinched as my wing was stuck in a painful curved, half-open position. It sucked having fully functional wings in protoform.

I blankly tried thinking of what had just happened. My mind refused to function properly. Everything in me was slowly shutting down.

Terrible enough that I'd been tortured and experimented on for a madman's gain. Unthinkable how I'd just put a perfectly normal slug through unbearable pain essentially so _I_ could gain their abilities.

Didn't matter that I had no possible other choice. I'd still done it.

I had never thought much about the word unthinkable. But now I'd truly found something that was _literally_ unthinkable. My mind refused to work. My thoughts were blank.

_Crack_

I was soon loaded into a blaster and launched again at another slug, an Armashelt. Another croaked apology.

_Splinter_

Again, but a Frostcrawler. _"Sorry..."_

_Fracture_

A Jellyish from a slinger who was out of slugs and only had one last-ditch attempt left. Tears. _"I'm sorry..."_

_Shatter_

A Thresher from a kid, barely old enough to hold the blaster she'd picked up off the ground. _"I... sorry..."_

_Pieces falling_

A Tormato that was scared to death, obviously having seen what I'd done to the other ones. _"So... so... so sorry..."_

_Falling and breaking apart_

A Thugglet, glaring at me angrily the whole time. _"I-Im so sorry..."_

_Breaking until nothing but dust remains_

Finally, someone fires a slug I've already gone up against. An Armashelt. I respond only because my instinct has taken over. He naturally chooses the ability I'd absorbed from the earlier Armashelt.

Gasps of shock and horror from the few still conscious and the fewer still resisting.

_Gone_

The instinct fully takes over. I don't even resist as the pitiful hollow I used to call my mind is pushed, surprisingly gently, to the back.

I watch completely empty as the instinct continues doing as it's told. I'm no longer truly there.

Finally the physical strain that should have knocked me out long ago takes full effect and I sank into blessed nothingness.

* * *

No One's P.o.V.

The whispers spread across Slugterra. They spread even faster through the slugs, who were truly disgusted.

A Ghoul absorbed slugs' abilities, nearly killing them in the process.

It had begun as a simple skirmish, Blakk's men had attacked some loud mouthed protestors. They'd fought back and both sides were evenly matched. Until The Ghoul arrived.

From that moment moral had plummeted and the fight was all but lost. The slingers unlucky enough to have been targeted head on were left with broken bones and painful fractures. The slugs who'd had their abilities absorbed nearly died.

It took weeks for the slugs to heal and regain their strength. When other slugs were told what had happened they were _angry_. Angry at Blakk for creating such a dangerous Ghoul and angry at the Ghoul itself. Oddly enough, the first eight slugs who'd been absorbed seemed sad. When asked why, they never spoke.

They simply couldn't find the words to describe the agony and _suffering_ they'd seen in The Ghoul's eyes. They knew that what they had felt was nothing compared to what that creature was going through.

They also knew that no slug would believe them.

* * *

**Alright, in case anyone was wondering why this is rated T... Heh heh... ^^" But if you think about it, a slug in his situation would come out mentally scarred. He's pretty much still a slug inside too.**

**I'm willing to start accepting OCs for this, by the way. ^^ I've never done this before in any of my stories and I'm wanting to try to challenge myself with writing a character I don't know by heart. Here's the thing: It will be a L. O. N. G. time until any of them come in, unless it's a special case. And there might reach a point where I have a perfect amount of OCs and any more would completely ruin everything. So if you want me to use one of your OCs, tell me in a review or send me a pm. DON'T give me the Bio in the review, I have my own one that's set up just so I can understand the character from my point of view. I'll send you the character sheet to fill out and if there's anything extra there's even a little Extra: section.**

**Again, PLEASE don't put the Bio in the review. Thanks. :D Please Read and Review and tell me what you guys think of this chapter!**


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